"I can't do it anymore." At that, Sam did turn slightly and their eyes met. Jack saw the tears now streaming down her face.

Jack crossed the space between them and slowly and gently wrapped his arms around her. When she didn't pull away, Jack whispered, "I promise I'll make it better. Whatever it is, I'll make it better."

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SOMETIMES TOO MUCH IS TOO MUCH

Jack's POV…

It must have started two months ago. With Jon's birth, two months ahead of time. When I got back to Earth with the twins, I was scared we'd lost the baby or even Sam. But this, I never imagined.

Sam, she must have been so frightened. To make it worse I wasn't there when she needed me. Thank God Luke was, or we might have lost them both.

I thought we could handle it; I was sure Sam could handle it. We'd had babies before.

I didn't want to see it, but things were different this time. We didn't have a baby to bring home right away. But still, once we knew Jon was gonna be okay, it should have been a joyous time.

It seemed just the opposite for Sam. I think I wanted to pretend I was imagining it, so when she told me nothing was wrong I let it go more than once.

And now here we are, just the two of us in my truck, on our way to see Janet and probably my favorite person, Dr. McKenzie. Sam could barely dress herself today. Not that she was being uncooperative, she just didn't seem able to focus long enough to get things done. On our way out of the house, we'd both spent a few minutes reassuring Grace and Jake, before leaving them with Daniel. Sam just held them and sobbed. I'm sure the kids don't know what to make of all this.

Since we've gotten in the cab of the truck, Sam's sat with her head leaning against the door. Hasn't moved a muscle. Every few minutes she mutters "I'm sorry", but not much else. I can barely hear even that. Why didn't I see this coming? Why didn't I let myself see this coming?

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What the hell is taking so long? She's been in there with Janet and McKenzie for nearly an hour. And I've been pacing this stupid floor for almost that long. If I don't watch it, they'll make me McKenzie's next guinea pig. There has to be something I can do to make this better. Who am I kidding? I should have been able to prevent this. She needed me and I'm off playing General in Washington. Damn it!

Well, I suppose the one good thing about this hour of hellish waiting is that I got to phone Daniel and the kids. We sure have two brave little munchkins. And Jon is one tough soldier himself. They must be so confused. I'll talk with them when I get home. They're really gonna need to know why Mommy acted so strangely and that everything's okay.

Hell, I need to know that…

"Jack, we'd like you to come in now," Janet called, breaking his solitary reflection.

Silently, Jack followed his friend and physician into her office. Finding Sam and Dr. McKenzie there waiting for him, Jack took a seat next to his wife. To his dismay, when he reached for her hand, Sam pulled away. Janet caught his look of distress and tucked that reaction in the back of her mind to make sure she addressed it later.

"Jack," Janet began, knowing it would be better coming from her than Dr. McKenzie, "as you've probably already guessed, Sam is suffering from a fairly severe case of postpartum depression."

"Got that. So what do we do, Doc?" Jack asked, praying there was something he could do to solve this problem and help his wife.

"Spoken like the strong military man you are, Jack. But I'm afraid it's not that straightforward." Much of what Dr. McKenzie and I will be telling you now we've already discussed with Sam."

"You know Janet, Sam's right here. Do you really think …" he began, uncomfortable with discussing his wife as though she weren't even there.

Before Janet could answer, Sam did it for her. "It's okay Jack," she said softly, looking directly at him for the first time. "I need help." Her voice was so flat and emotionless, it chilled him.

"Colonel Carter's on board with the treatment plan, General," Dr. McKenzie spoke now.

"As you've seen, there is a paucity of speech and difficulty with concentration which is very much a part of her current condition. She has given us permission to share all information about her treatment with you."

At that Jack nodded numbly. It hadn't occurred to him before then that it would have been Sam's right to refuse him access to her treatment information. He took it as a positive sign that she wasn't trying to shut him out completely.

"Okay, so here we are again. What do we do?" Jack repeated his primary question.

"General, recovery from depression of any sort is a process. In Colonel Carter's case, successful remission of symptoms will require both psychotropic medications and supportive psychotherapy," McKenzie explained. "Before that starts, I believe the patient and her family should understand what exactly it is that we're treating."

Sam sat silently, listening to McKenzie. Jack assumed that her passive face indicated she'd already heard all of this. At least he hoped that's what it was. And McKenzie, how he hated the man's detached clinical approach; it sounded like they were treating a total stranger.

Janet had picked up on Jack's discomfort and decided to continue the explanation herself.

"Jack, Sam's already heard much of what we're telling you and agreed it was important for you to understand too. First of all, depression is a very much a medical illness. You chose to bring her here for medical care and that was a good choice on your part. Often the etiology of depression is physiological, caused by chemicals in the body."

"Neurotransmitters, right?"

"Sometimes, yes, Jack. In postpartum depression, some of those chemical changes are mediated by the hormonal shifts of pregnancy and the immediate postpartum period." Turning slightly to address Sam directly, Janet continued, "In your case, Sam, all of that was most likely compounded by the tumor and whatever happened to you physically during ascension. I can't even begin to hazard a guess as to how all of that impacted your chemical makeup."

"Janet, aren't some people depressed because of other things. You know things that have happened to them or family members who treat them badly?" Jack asked, really wondering if he'd done something to cause this.

"Certainly, sometimes those things are part of the picture, Jack. But remember, Sam's depression in all likelihood was initiated by the massive hormonal shifts she experienced." Again, looking directly at Sam, despite the lack of response, she continued, "Then the stress of those days, and finally the trauma of baby Jon's premature delivery combined with those changes to cause the level of clinical depression we're seeing now. Please believe me when I tell you, neither of you caused this."

Jack studied Janet's face for any sign she was sugar coating the truth; he checked out McKenzie as well. Finally he turned towards Sam and found her eyes already on him. Filled with tears that refused to fall, her eyes locked with his and he prayed she could see the love in his heart reflected there. Perhaps she did, for at that moment, her hand reached out to grasp his and squeezed it for all she was worth.

"Why now?" Sam asked, still looking at Jack, but obviously asking for information from the medical experts in the room.

"Why so long after the baby's delivery?" McKenzie asked, makaing sure he knew what Sam was asking.

Sam nodded.

"We're not really certain," McKenzie continued. "What we do know is that about 10 percent of new mothers experience postpartum depression. The symptoms may develop any time within six months of giving birth. It may appear to be the baby blues at first — but the signs and symptoms are more intense and longer lasting, eventually interfering with a woman's ability to function. The symptoms get worse: constant fatigue, lack of joy, emotional numbness, feeling like a failure, withdrawal from friends and family…"

"Sounds familiar, huh Sam?" Jack interrupted, speaking more to his wife than anyone else. He'd been watching her closely during McKenzie's dissertation. Now he could see the tears begin to silently fall.

"Okay, so one more time folks, what do we do," Jack asked.

TBC

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A/N: Wow, thanks for all the reviews.Your enthusiasm pushed me to finish this chapter faster than I expected.

I'm glad to see the interest in this story which deals with an important topic, affecting many women and the people who care about them.